Friday, February 15, 2008

"In many ways presidential candidates are vying to be America’s next lover. It’s no coincidence that they are often described as “courting” voters. They smile at us, compliment us, wink, smear their rivals for our affection. Their campaigns are filled with the equivalent of high school best friends who sidle up to the American electorate telling us how much their friend likes us and extolling their virtues.

(snip)

"Hillary Clinton is like Stanley Kowalski. She’s kneeling at the bottom of the stairs in the rain, torn shirt, screaming our name in a desperate plea. Hillary doesn’t know what to do without us, the American people. This kind of drive, this kind of passion, is something we like when it is found in a man. It launched Marlon Brando to super stardom, men everywhere seeking to emulate his fire and women going soft at the sound of his cry.

"But we don’t know what to do when a woman is exhibiting this desire, this fire. Stanley Kowalski knew we liked a little throw down, that we liked it when all the colored lights are going. Stella swooned.

"Hillary has turned the tables. Hillary wants to throw America down and ride us hard. There are a lot of people who are uncomfortable with that, just as they’d be uncomfortable with Stella kneeling at the bottom of the stairs in the rain screaming Stanley.

(snip)

"But when your coming out of a bad relationship the way the American people are you just want someone who will make you feel good. You want someone to tell you there is hope. You want someone who will promise away the darkness. And along comes Barack Obama.

"He is the lover who has found us weeping in the corner. He puts his arm around us and asks us to tell him all about it. His hand caresses our shoulder. He places delicate kisses along our neck. He tells us he understands.

"We’re vulnerable. We don’t know anything about him. But we don’t really want to. We want to fill in all those empty spaces with what we hope he might be, with what we need him to be right now. And he’s happy to let us.

"He lets his lips linger upon our cheek until we actually turn to kiss him. He takes us home and he gives some long, slow loving.

"That’s nice. We can get our heads around that. It’s especially nice after being tied up and ball-gagged for the past eight years."